A year long frost
by Sugered
Summary: It's been a year since Millennium fell and Walter died, and chaos is taking hold of England as a certain Mafia start to arise from the shadows. Can Hellsing tackle this problem? And without her trusty aide -Walter- will Integra manage to keep herself together? Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Note from author: **Wah I've never attempted a Hellsing fic because the anime/manga is quite in depth and I'd hate to write an inaccurate fanfic. But I've watched the anime + OVA and read most of the manga, so finger-crossed I'm ready now.

50 years old and with her spotless purity still intact, the infamous head of Hellsing quietly milled along with the church congregation towards two solid oak doors. Standing either side were her rather odd body guards; a blond woman with some impressive artillery balanced delicately on her shoulders as if it weighed nothing, and an extremely tall man who was hunched over, harbouring a dark aura amongst his crimson coat and dark hair. Through the dimness of the church their sharp teeth both glimmered brightly. As the crowd shambled out into the cold winters morning, Integra took a moment to stand amongst the sombre tombstones in the chilly graveyard, her fingers slowly finding the words chiselled into one of the stones which read 'Walter C. Dornez'. The white roses placed at his grave the week before were brown and withered. The blond woman stepped forward and replaced them gently with fresh buds, their gentle leaves and petals trembled in the icy breeze.

'Ma'am, they say this cold wind comes from warmer climes.' The tall man stood behind the two women, speaking in a deep, low voice. A slow grin spread across his chiselled features, revealing razor sharp fangs.

'So you have heard the rumours then?' Integra turned to her two-vampire strong entourage. Without Walter, she felt incomplete without her two top agents by her side. Her old butler had not just been a loyal servant, but a trusty protector too. 'And you as well then Seras?' The blond vampire nodded. Integra sighed and moved on towards the church gate. The wind blew them gently, the rusty, dry hinges of the gates gave out a scarping, metallic groan. 'I guess Alucard told you then.' She glared at the tall vampire.

'Now now, it was more of a subtle hint, Ma'am.'

'Well let it remain that. The public are already suspicious and soon the press will uncover the truth.' They walked to the pavement where a lacquered black saloon car awaited, stylish but no doubt heavily armoured. 'At least that Italian pizzeria over the road has gotten better with all these Italian chefs'.

'Ugh, I wish I could eat pizza' groaned Seras.

Integra bowed in the warmth of the car followed by Seras. But Alucard remained on the pavement.

'Aren't you coming too, nosferatu?' The chirpy young driver had wound down the window and now smiled at the 7"8 man. 'Can't wait here for too long.' He called out.

Alucard smirked at the driver who was probably unaware of the high death rate of Hellsing employees, and more aware of the massive salary. 'I think I will take a walk - maybe smell out a good Italian for Sir. Integra'.

The chauffeur pulled away, leaving Alucard alone in the bleak winter morning. The vampire turned and strode along the grey pavement. The sun was hiding behind gloomy clouds, always there but never spending its warmth. Most of the plants were dying now as the frost had clung to them for a week. At first the flowers were perfectly preserved, their twinkling petals stood crystallized; now they had withered to icy crisps. To cheer himself up, Alucard replayed an Italian opera he had once seen a while ago based off of Dracula. He had realised instantly from the start that the actor of Dracula was in fact a vampire, but later on it became clear that in fact the whole cast were all un-dead. At the time it was amusing, but now it was worrying.

Over the past year, an alarming number of Italian immigrants had been flooding into England. Later on, Hellsing had discovered something about these immigrants, but what had given it away was actually the immigrants from other European countries. They had just stopped coming. It was not just the inappropriate policies of the idiotic BNP that had put them off. No. Many of the Eastern European were quite familiar with the old legends of vampires, and many of them were quite familiar with the rumour that these were no ordinary Italians now living in England.

By now, Alucard had reached a newly sprung Italian pizzeria. Unlike before, most Italian restaurants produced only cheap imitations of Italian cuisine, but now they had authentic Italian chefs, and people flocked to the restaurants to taste the mouth-watering dishes. The tall vampire peered in through the window at the humans as they buzzed; talking, eating, chomping and chortling over lunch. They tucked into beautifully light gnocchi, crispy calamari and ultra thin pizza bases. It almost seemed to revive a taste of sense in a vampire who had not eaten food for over many centuries. Alucard walked into the pizzeria and glided quietly over to the take-away counter.

'One moment please sir,' A woman on the phone spoke in a thick Italian accent to the hungry customer on the other end. She looked up at Alucard now, her eyes growing as wide as the moon. There was a silent acknowledgement that they were both vampires. No human man could surely be _that_ tall, and no woman could surely have incisors _that _sharp. There was a brief moment of silence before the woman spoke.

'Good afternoon...sir. How may we be of service?' Was she nervous because a vampire was ordering human food? Or was she nervous because an unknown vampire had entered her territory? The tall vampire pulled back his mouth into a long grin. To her it looked as if he were about to bite her head off of her neck; to him it was an attempt at a polite smile. The delivery boy sorting out boxes to take out to his motorbike now eyed up Alucard suspiciously.

'I just came here to pick up a business card.' He swiftly picked a card up and tucked it into his massive red coat. 'Good day'. Alucard turned and walked out the door, a few of the customers staring in disbelief at his height. As he strode away from the pizzeria - passing a trendy new Italian ice cream parlour as he did- he read the card. _Monticelso's pizzeria? No doubt at night it turns into a special kind of restaurant, a place bloody and full of horror. _ He chuckled to himself and tossed the card away.

'Pizzeria? You went to one, Master?! Awww. Did it smell good? Did you taste the food?' Seras had run to Alucard as soon as he returned to the Hellsing mansion. She now waited eagerly for his reply, to lap it up and imagine the taste of the food he had been so lucky to see and to smell.

'No police-girl. It smelt like all other human food. You know we can't differentiate between the foods.' He casually walked past her towards the stairs. 'If you don't mind, I'm going to lock myself in my coffin for a few days thinking. See you on Wednesday'.

'Wh- Master?' She turned to run after the vampire, but he had already disappeared into a shadowy corridor. _Great, off to his bat-chelor cave again to not tell us at all what is going on. _Seras grumbled to herself. _Although everyone else seems to know what's going on. Why never me?! _


	2. Chapter 2

**Note from author: **You're probably thinking, _why Italians?_ Well that is because: Pulp fiction & The White Devil. A film about gangsters and a -most boring- play about corrupt Italian people. Something of which I've been reading/watching lately. P.s. I asked a friend how old Integra is post-manga and apparently she is 52, so I've changed her age to 52 now.

* * *

The music playing was barely audible amongst the packed restaurant; the chattering drowning out the jazzy swing of the piano in the corner. Integra glanced briefly around the room, surveying for any possible danger. There was a sharp pizza knife placed for every customer, the tables so tightly packed together around the fire exit that health and safety would have a heart attack, and -oh yes- all the staff were blood-sucking monsters. The boss of Hellsing twirled her lighter around with her fingers, fidgeting with the lid, flicking it up and down. She breathed out through her nose as if she could feel smoke exhaling out of her nostrils. _God I hate these new smoking laws._ Her hand twitched nervously over the pocket of her finely cut jacket, but she pulled it away; resisting the delicious cigars that rested inside.

' Ms. Hellsing?' A voice piped up over the crowd. Ah, so here was her date. Integra looked up to see a handsome, tall, dark man looking down at her. 'Found you at last then'. He spoke with a perfectly, deep and suave voice, but there was no covering up the slight roll as he spoke the letter r. 'Come with me, I've booked us the VIP area'. He held his hand out for her to take. Integra smiled and stood up, leaving his hand awkwardly hanging there.

'As the head of a finely established business, I would rather you call me _ , _if you please, Marcus'. The man retracted his rejected hand and pulled back together his slightly wounded pride.

'My apologies. I hope the VIP room will please you more.' He led Integra past the packed room through a corridor into a much more quiet, dimly lit one with only a few tables dotted about. They sat for a while making small talk, with Integra watching for the brief flashes of fangs in the dull candle light.

'So tell me, what sort of business do you run?' She looked up. This is what she had been waiting for; this is what she was here for.

'Oh just your regular military business, Marcus.' She idly placed a piece of pasta in her mouth.

'Military eh? I've heard that you run a really _special_ kind of military buisiness, actually.' He grinned a long toothy grin now; much like Alucard's but a lot less psychotic. The room had suddenly gone awfully quiet. _This man thinks he's big stuff. _Integra knew the game by now, and she definitely knew what real danger was. _This little baby will be a piece of cake_. She remained silent, staring back at him with her usual cool composure. 'Well, ...I heard, that you like to kill vampires'. As he said the word 'vampires' he opened his mouth wide, showing his fangs; spittle sliding off their razor sharp edges. 'Isn't that right boys?' Integra did not turn around, but she could already sense the presence of the waiters standing not too far behind her. The couples at the tables around them too looked on. 'Oh, little-itty-bitty fly, it seems you have crawled right into the spider's web'. He gave her a sickening smile and looked into her eyes with a menacing look. She noticed now that his eyes were almost as black as his pupils. 'Now, just don't scream too loud, okay?'. He nodded at the vampires who began to advance towards them.

They were too slow; Integra had already whipped her out her rapier which glimmered brightly; out dazzling the now blunt and dull-seeming fangs of her attackers. She kicked the table to the corner where she proceeded to stamp down hard on 'Marcus's' chest, pushing him to the ground underneath her heavy boot.

'I may be 52, but God will I make you sorry for even trying to harm me'. And with that she brought her sword down across his neck, decapitating him in one fell swoop. His body crumbled instantly to ashes, halting the oncoming vampyric waiters. They watched the woman who had just executed their boss turn around, her eyes burning deep into their own. She smirked, her round glasses flashing momentarily. Slowly, Integra slid a cigar out of her pocket and placed it in her mouth before lighting it; all the while watching the vampires. Then, she swept the glove off her right hand and clicked.

'CHAARRRRGE'. A high-pitched voice screamed into the VIP room. Suddenly, a buxom blond vampire crashed around the corner and took out two waiters in seconds with the enormous cannon balanced on her shoulder. She jumped and rolled forwards, leaping back up to devour two more vampires, her arm turning hazy and black as it swallowed them up. The fifth tried to leap out of a window, but Integra had sliced him up before he could. The two women stood there for a moment, out of breath and slightly overwhelmed by what had just happened. A minute had barely passed.

'Good work, Seras Victoria'. Integra finally took a puff on her cigar, the dim, orange glow briefly lighting up her delicate features in the dark room. As she headed for the exit she turned to Seras. 'Get the clean-up team in to sort out this mess, and don't forget to finish my task either'.

'Right away, ma'am'. Seras saluted her boss before requesting for the poor unfortunates whose job it was to vacuum up vampire ashes. Integra swiftly exited the restaurant with a grin on her face. She had never realised that being fifty two would be so much fun, but as she got older people began to stop question her actions. The head of Hellsing ducked quickly into her awaiting car, briefly taking a last glimpse at the packed restaurant.

'Did you have a good evening, sir?' The young chauffeur called towards the back of the car.

'Unfortunately not, Mr. Brookes. The service was awful'.

Seras waited until the clean up team had arrived, ordering them they needed to clean up every last spec of dust before she hastily hurried away to avoid having to clean up too. She walked down a corridor that went away from the restaurant and towards the staff room. No doubt the chefs will be wondering where their service is, they'll soon come looking for them, giving Seras only a short amount of time to find what she sought. The blond woman hurried on down the corridor, trying not to drag her Harkonnen along the wooden floor or the newly painted walls. Reaching the staff-room, Seras left her massive canon propped up by the door. She opened it slowly, peering round the room before confirming it to be clear. The vampire tiptoed over to another door now that led to the manager's office. It had big glass windows looking into it, and Seras could see that there were hundreds of documents scattered haphazardly across the desk and several chairs. _Great_, she groaned, _I'm never going to find what I'm looking for. _

Flitting into the office, Seras began hurriedly filing through the documents.

'Calling Victoria calling Victoria'. Seras jumped wildly as her walkie-talkie piped up. 'Clean-up complete, we're now pulling out. See you back at base. Over'. She calmed her thumping heart before acknowledging the message. Getting back to the task at hand now, she managed to find a folder which was of interest. However, the staff-room door suddenly swung open. _Out of time._ Seras cursed under her breath as the chef turned around and stared right at her. A French profanity, no doubt influenced by Pip. Quickly she executed a running jump through the glass window of the boss' office, tackling the chef as she did. He flailed wildly underneath her grasp, fangs drawn and an awful hissing sound spitting out of his mouth. She pulled a stake from a holdall on her thigh and stabbed him straight through the heart. Her hands hit the floor as his body disintegrated into a sorry pile of ashes. Already there were more shouts coming from the corridor. She couldn't risk the humans witnessing this, so she grabbed her Harkonnen and ran back into the staff-room; leaping out of an open window and finally escaping the Italian restaurant. As she ran into the cold night, Seras could hear that high-pitched hissing sound echo behind her in the darkness. Somewhere far off a car honked its horn, a cat meowed. Then streetlights came back into view, and the vampire stopped relieved as she came into a safe zone, where a few humans milled about after their evening out. The blond woman swore. _No documents. I think I've failed the mission._


	3. Chapter 3

**Note from author:** Wow I haven't written in a LONG time. I just lost the writing fan fiction bug, and I've been indulging in role-playing instead. Whoopsie. At least this one is extra long.

* * *

_Merde. _Seras swore underneath her breath. After absorbing Pip, she'd been using French profanities more often nowadays. The female vampire dragged her feet along the pavement as she walked to the taxi rank; kicking herself for not finding the documents in time. Hailing a cab, Seras finally made her way back to the Hellsing mansion after a long night.

'No documents?!' Integra shouted at the blond vampire who stood dumbly at her heavy oak desk. The boss of Hellsing herself was sat back in the accompanying large, wooden chair with her elbows placed upon the desk - her fingers laced together in a usual manner. 'You didn't get anything at all?' Seras shook her head sadly. 'Any documents would have helped - bills, receipts, stockists, bank statements. However, what's done is done. You can go now Seras'. As the vampire let the door shut softly behind her, she could hear her boss sigh as she left. _Ohhhh why me? Why didn't I just grab some paper - any paper- as I legged it?! _The poor vampire was still upset that she hadn't had the common sense to just grab some documents as she ran, and now her hunger had grown incredibly, most likely due to her disappointment. Seras decided to make her way towards the kitchen to pick up a pack of medical blood to snack on. Walking down the dark corridor she thought she heard a menacing laugh. Turning around however, there was no one there. Shrugging her shoulders, Seras headed into the kitchen and searched the giant fridge for some packs of blood. Luckily for her it had just been restocked, and the vampire fetched two packs of plump, ripe blood bags. She instantly tore off the tops and gulped down the delicious, crimson liquid. _That hit the spot_. With her hunger satisfied Seras cheered up a little and decided to go to the library to read for a bit before dawn.

The library was quiet that evening as it usually was - any slight sound absorbed by the heavy woven drapes, curtains and oak furnishings. The blonde vampire took off her clumpy military boots and hopped across the thick, soft carpets to the book case as her feet were released from their weighty prison. The library itself was decorated with earthy shades of deep, russet red and mossy green. And the glowing fireplace spread an aura of warmth and welcome. Seras jumped up a moving ladder to the top shelf and slid a thin book down - 'Darlen Marie Pearl Landry's guide to hotwiring all vehicles' - jumping off the ladder and into a cosy chair by the grand fireplace. Seras snuggled up into the plush upholstery of the chair, melting into its soft, cushiony goodness and opened the book; turning the pages until she reached an earmarked page titled 'Chapter two: Motorcycles and Quads'. The vampire read for another hour before earmarking a new page this time and placing the book back on the shelf. It would be dawn in a half hour, so, Seras decided it was about time to get in her coffin. Picking up her heavy boots instead of putting them back on, she padded silently back along the dark corridors to her room.

Opening the weighty door she flicked on the light switch. Something in the corner of the room startled her, and the blonde girl gasped and dropped her boots with a heavy thud on the floor. 'M-m-master!' Seras squeaked. 'I wish you really wouldn't do that, you scared me'. She frowned and picked up her boots - shutting the door as she did.

'Forgive me police-girl.' Alucard replied. He was sat -or perched- on the chair in the corner of her room. However, his legs were so long that they stretched out across the floor, making the chair seem more like a ledge than something that should sit a person on it. 'I didn't mean to intrude'. The vampire was not dressed in his usual red hat and coat, instead he was wearing his black suit underneath - no doubt ready to hop into his own coffin.

'Where have you been for the past few days, Master? You just disappeared...again.'

'Hmm, well you see police-girl, I have things to do. Important things. What I have been doing is I've been having a long, good think.' He spoke deeply and slowly.

'A think? You mean to say you've been having a few days off of work to have _a think_?'

'Nothing wrong with that. Besides, I remembered something of importance', he grinned a long, wide grin. _This must be useful. It should at least make up for not collecting the documents._ Seras walked over to her lacquered coffin and placed her boots down beside it.

'Please share, Master. I failed to get any information today at all from the Italian restaurant', the vampire sighed.

'Well luckily for you, police-girl, I know someone who might know a little information about these Italians. A well travelled man.' Alucard stood up and headed for the door, 'get some rest. We travel at 7.30 sharp tomorrow for Winchester'. The tall vampire left her chamber and gently shut the door.

'7.30?!' Seras cried as she saw that it was already four thirty on her clock. The blonde girl quickly jumped in her coffin and shut the lid, hoping for a few hours rest before leaving.

It was a cold, overcast morning when Seras and Alucard headed off to Winchester. The train had been overcrowded as they left London, but by the time they reached Basingstoke the carriage had become eerily quiet. The two vampires both sat in silence, listening to the gentle _clackity-clack_ of the wheels as they clicked over the tracks. Alucard still hadn't told the young vampire who they were seeing in Winchester, only that he had useful information. She sighed and looked out of the window outside. Frost had already begun settling in the corners of the window, creating a beautiful patina of intricate, icy patterns. It was only early October and yet the trees had all withered away to spindly skeletons against the bleak sky. The weather was almost a portrayal of life after the incident that happened in London. The near-to-apocalypse had wiped out half of Hellsing's best employees and tore away with it any peace of mind that Seras had developed since becoming a vampire. Walter, Anderson, Pip...they were all gone now. At least now Alucard was here, bringing with him the buzz and excitement of a new case to investigate; the Italian vampires.

'You seem rather quiet today, police-girl', Alucard had been watching her from the seat he'd taken opposite. 'Something on your mind?'

Seras tore herself away from the running countryside outside the window and looked up at Alucard.

'Hmm? Not really. I just still haven't gotten over the past yet. It's weird that everything just went back to normal after that. I sometimes wonder if it was a dream'. She rested her head on her fist.

'This is what being a vampire is like. I have lived many lifetimes and seen many histories. Most are long forgotten, along with the culture and norms of that time. You'll get used it'.

'I hope so'. At that moment a voice came on the intercom; announcing that Winchester was the next stop.

Winchester was a relatively small town. It had history though, and a very nice market. Seras wanted to look around the market all day, but she couldn't. How she longed to drink the hot, spiced drinks and mulled wine in this bitter, cold weather.

'Come along, police-girl', Alucard smirked as he raced ahead with his gigantic strides.

'This city is so old. Look at all these buildings. There must've been a lot of rich people here'. Seras trotted along behind him, no doubt the odd couple attracted a few suspicious stares.

'Yes, I came here in its best days. This used to be the capital of England, you know.'

'It's hard to imagine that this small town was a capital, when you compare it to London'.

They proceeded at a rushed pace along the market streets until they came to a green.

'Wow', Seras looked up. Across from the pair stood an enormous, gothic cathedral. In the gloomy, dull weather the castle seemed rather eerie. The two hurried over to the heavy oak door of the cathedral that had it's smaller door open. Alucard walked in first, the blonde girl following closely behind. Inside the stone floor and walls were dimly lit with many candles. An anaemic light came in through the stained glass above the front entrance, illuminating the bronze and silver plaques placed around certain areas of the cathedral. The actual building itself was completely empty, apart from one man who was sat in the front pew, reading a large, old and heavy book. As they drew closer, Seras could see that he had white, cotton gloves on - the kind historian's wore on the T.V. when inspecting old relics of bygone eras. The man was also wearing an earthy tweed suit, white shirt and red bowtie. He was small and old, and the tiny spectacles placed upon his hooked nose made his wizened frame seem even more ancient. Alucard stopped in front of the man and held his hand out.

'Good afternoon, Mr. Khayman,' The tall vampire waited. But the tiny, old man kept on reading his book. It wasn't until Alucard loudly cleared his throat that he looked up, pushing his little spectacles back on his nose and peering up at the extremely long man who was blocking out the light falling on his book. The old man shut the book with great care and placed it on the bench beside him before taking off his gloves and shaking Alucard's own gloved and outstretched hand - his movements shaky and slow.

'Ahh, Alucard. My old friend! How very good to see you.' Mr. Khayman smiled, and all the wrinkles in his face seemed to crease even more making his eyes barely visible. 'And now,' he peered forward, 'who is this dashing young lady?'

'Khayman, this is my accomplace, Seras Victoria.'

'Victoria? Well, it is nice to meet you young lady', he stood up and shook her hand as well.

'It's nice to meet you too, ', Seras stuttered - it had been a while since anyone had addressed her as Victoria or 'dashing'. A chilling wind blew into the church at that moment - howling as it slipped through the partially shut door. Khayman looked apprehensively at the door. Alucard began walking over to shut it, speaking as he did.

'Noticed this cold weather that we are having, Mr. Khayman? Rather odd, don't you think?'

'Yes yes', the man folded his arms and shivered, 'devilishly strange'.

'England is a cold country. But you have lived here for much longer than I have. If anyone, you should know best what the weather is usually like for this time of year.'

'It is true, I have been here for many centuries. And yes, this is the coldest it has _ever_ been for this time of year', the old man sat back down on the bench, placing his hands in his lap. He looked up at a beautiful carved statue of the Virgin Mary. Underneath her scarf, her face displayed a look of fear.

'Wait, you have lived for longer than Alucard?' Seras gasped.

'Yes young lady, I have. If you can call it _living_', he laughed at this. 'I have been here since the powerful empire of Egypt'. _Wow, so old!_ The blonde vampire thought to herself. It surprised her that there was a vampire older than the very Alucard himself.

'And being old, and well travelled, you have a lot of knowledge don't you, Khayman?' Alucard shut the door and proceeded back up to the front row of pews. Seras decided to sit on the a step leading up to the pulpit.

'Have you noticed anything strange recently ? Specifically including Italians?' Seras began to question him.

'Italians?' The old man wondered to himself, and sat deep in thought for a few minutes. Alucard had returned to the front of the church now and sat in the pew beside Khayman. After a few minutes he suddenly spoke again, startling Seras. 'Ah! Yes! Now that you mention it, I do reckon I've seen - or heard - something rather interesting.' The two vampires leaned in to listen closer. 'I was speaking to the an old friend of mine. He is a lord in the houses of parliament. Apparently there is a lord there, goes by the name of Accaia who is trying to pass a bill to allow more Italians to enter the country. Apparently they are good for the food industry or something along the lines of that.'

'Yes, anything else? This lord, does he have any connections to any political parties?' the female vampire pressed.

'Not that I'm aware of. He is just the owner of a popular Italian ice-cream chain'. Alucard tapped his foot on the stone floor of the church for a moment before getting up.

'Well thank you for your help Khayman, until the next time'. With that, the tall vampire leapt up, sweeping down the isle and out of the church, a breeze whipping up his long, crimson coat as he pulled open the smaller door of the church entrance to leave.


End file.
